Having Lionel Messi playing in the Premier League would be an amazing achievement for English football and would allow supporters to catch a glimpse of one of the best and most breathtaking players of the modern era.

Although Chelsea and City fans will dream of having a player like Messi in their starting XI and despite his potential switch to the Premier League being great for English football, for the neutral and the sport in general Messi remaining at Barcelona is the best outcome.

Given the extortionate nature of any proposed transfer of Messi from Barcelona, the likely sum of money being splashed to capture the brilliant attacker would have made a mockery of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rulings.

For fans, player and managers of teams not backed by Russian oligarchs or billionaire sheiks, Messi’s move to England would surely have been completely deflating and truly highlighted the ridiculous gulf in resources between fellow teams in the Premier League.

With Cristiano Ronaldo winning his third Ballon d’Or last night at the expense of Messi and the battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid as fierce as ever, the Argentina international remaining with Luis Enrique’s side maintains one of football’s most captivating personal and team rivalries.

The South American will surely be determined to prove his status as the world’s best player once more in 2015 and Barcelona are obviously going to run Madrid much closer with Messi in their ranks.

Finally, with the record-breaking Messi now 27 years old, there is every chance that he could well play his entire career with Barcelona.

Gareth McKnight

I am a freelance football journalist from Northern Ireland, currently living and working from Broome in Western Australia. After a degree in sports journalism from the University of Stirling in Scotland, I started in the online football world and have worked for leading websites and media outlets since. My knowledge and passion is based around the Premier League and European football, but I also have a soft spot for the Australian A-League.